Project Manager

Lawrence Siulagi served as creative manager for the support services department of the School of Business Administration. He supervised three designers and one work-study. He managed all incoming projects by determining size, coordination and turnaround.

Large publications, such as catalogs, annual reports and bulletins required a concerted coordination with designers, vendors, clients, and purchasing.

Normal projects usually required a three- to five-day turnaround and included invitations, small brochures, illustrations and printing quality ranged from three-color printing to high-quality copying.

The last category of jobs was the rush or “hot potato” jobs which usually stemmed from unexpected, fast-breaking events.

Lawrence delegated and tracked each job using a Filemaker database system he programmed. Each job was given a unique number in a log book and a designer would be determined from their job load. Hot potato jobs were given to the first designer with a break in the flow.

Lawrence logged over 600 jobs per year for four years. Ultimately, the tracking and delegating became intuitive after four years. The handling of the flow of clients, however, was controlled through a time-tested rule: walk-in hours.

Any client could walk into the office between 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays while other times were by appointment only. This strictly enforced rule increased productivity by ten. Most clients called for an appointment if they knew the job was large and complex.

In special cases, Lawrence would designate a designer to problem-solve or serve as project manager. In all cases, contact information would be exchanged and close contact maintained from concept to finish.

In the rare case of a deadline conflicts where clients refuse to budge, Lawrence would suggest the client work out an agreement with the other clients with jobs in the queue. More than likely, these cases are resolved quickly before any calls are made.